Vanescent

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Gradually fading from sight or existence in a way that is slow and imperceptible
2. Tending to disappear or diminish progressively, as if melting away into nothing
3. Slowly vanishing or becoming less visible, evident, or substantial over time

Etymology: Something that is vanescent is literally in the act of disappearing, like a fading echo or a mist burning off in the morning. The "-escent" ending is a Latin suffix meaning "beginning to," the same one found in "luminescent" and "effervescent," so the word describes a process that is underway rather than a finished state. Its base is the Latin verb "vanere," "to vanish," from "vanus," meaning "empty" or "void." The "-escere" form grew from that verb to mean "to begin to vanish." English also has the closely related "evanescent," which comes from the same Latin family and is far more common. "Vanish" entered English through Old French from a related Latin form, so the word you see in "vanish" and the word in "vanescent" are cousins that took different routes into the language. "Vanescent" is the rarer of the two and is mostly found in literary or scientific writing.

Synonyms: evanescent, fleeting, transient, ephemeral

Antonyms: permanent, lasting, enduring